Seamless knit garment having increased width and method of making same



L. w. GARROU ETAL 3,109,301 SEAMLESS KNIT GARMENT HAVING INCREASED WIDTHNov. 5, 1963 AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Oct.

INVENTORS.

LoLHS W. Gmaraou a'm'GEORGE E S MMLAQIO BY AagM Lug ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent 3,109,301 SEAMLESS KNIT GARMENT HAVING INCREASED WIDTH ANDMETHOD OF MAKING SAME Louis W. Garrou and George F. Squillario, Valdese,

N.C., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Pilot Research Corporation,Valdese, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Oct. 4, 1960, Ser.No. 60,456 11 Claims. (Cl. 66-177) The present invention relatesgenerally to seamless knit two-legged lower body garments, such aspanties, panty girdles, bathing suits and tights, or the like, and tothe method of making the same. More particularly, the present inventionrelates to garments of the above type in which the width of the garmentmay be varied substantially.

In our copending application, Serial No. 840,407, filed September 16,1959, now Patent No. 2,962,884, of which the present application is acontinuationdn-part, a seamless knit garment and method of knitting thesame is disclosed which is similar in some respects to the garment shownin the present application. For example, the garments shown in bothapplications have seamless knit leg portions in which the knit walesextend longitudinally of the legs, the legs have integrally formedtapered extensions, and the garments have integrally formed fashionedfront and rear body panels which connect the tapered extensions of theleg portions while the knit wales of the body panels extendperpendicular to the wales of the legs and extensions. However, in thegarment disclosed in the above-noted copending application, the bodypanels extend downwardly in the front and rear of the garment only aportion of the way and the front and rear panels are knit throughout ofreciprocatory partial courses while in the garment disclosed in thepresent application, the fashioned front and rear panels have portionswhich include complete courses that extend between the legs and throughthe crotch area. Because certain portions of the front and rear panelsare formed of complete courses, the width of the garment can be variedby simply increasing or decreasing the number of complete courses knitduring the formation of the front and rear panels and thereby vary theamount of material in the central portion of the garment and between thelegs.

In the garment shown in our above-noted copending application, varyingthe fashioning of the leg extensions and the body panels may be employedto vary the size of the waist portion of the garment, however, the sizeof the garment in the hip portion depends upon the diameter of theknitting machine upon which the garment is knit.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the presentinvention to provide a one-piece seamless twolegged garment and novelmethod of fashioning the same during knitting in which the width of thegarment in the waist and hip portions does not depend upon the diameterof the knitting machine upon which the garment is being knit.

It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide afashioned seamless two-legged lower body garment which may be fashionedduring the knitting thereof to conform to a wide range of body sizes andshapes in a simple and economical manner.

It is another specific object of the present invention to provide aseamless knit two-legged garment having fashioned front and rear bodypanels which include a group of complete courses extending from thewaist area and through the crotch whereby the width of the waist and hipportions of the garment may be changed by merely varying the number ofcomplete courses knit in the body panels.

3,109,301 Patented Nov. 5, 1963 Some of the objects of the inventionhaving been stated, other objects will appear as the descriptionproceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a seam-less garment blank whichis knit in accordance with the present invention, illustrating thegarment blank in substantially flattened condition after it is removedfrom the knitting machine and prior to finishing the same;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1, showing a finished garment whichis made from the garment blank shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 shows the panty blank of FIGURE 1 with one leg thereof foldedover onto the other leg along a fold line extending vertically throughthe center of the blank shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the garment shown in FIGURE 1 with thefront panel cut along the gore or suture lines which connect the frontpanel to the upper tapered leg extensions, the front panel being raisedto illustrate the appearance of the inside of the blank.

Referring to FIGURES 1, 3 and 4, it will be noted that the garment blankis knit in a shape suitable for forming a panty type article and theblank includes a pair of seamless tubular legs 10 and 11 having knitwales that extend substantial-1y vertically or longitudinally of thelegs '10 and 11 and knit courses that extend substantially horizontallyor transversely thereof. The garments shown in the drawings are shadedwith lines which extend in the direction of the knit wales in variousportions of the garment. The legs 10 and 11 are provided with integrallyknit fashioned extensions 12 and 13, respectively, which are knitintegrally with and joined to the upper ends of the legs 10 and 1-1 andextend upwardly from the respective dash-dot lines indicated at .14 and15. The inner edges of the extensions 12 and 13 as well as the upperportions of the legs '10 and 11 are connected to a fashioned body gussetbroadly indicated at 20.

The body gusset 20 extends completely around the central portion of theblank to form front and rear panels 21 and 22 (FIGURE 4) which join eachother at the top of the blank and between the legs 10 and .11. The upperinner edges of the extensions 12 and 13 are joined to opposite edges ofthe upper portions of the front and rear panels 21 and 22 of the bodygusset 20 during the knitting operation in a manner to be laterdescribed, along respec tive front and rear suture or gore lines 24, 25and 26, 27 (FIGURE 4). The body gusset 20 is knit in such a manner thatthe knit wales thereof extend in substantially a horizontal direction inFIGURES l and 4, as opposed to the substantially vertically extendingwales of the legs 10 and 11 and extensions 12, '13.

After knitting of the garment blank is completed, the I upper medialportion thereof is slit or cut along the dashdot line indicated at 30 inFIGURE 4 to provide a waist opening. It will be noted that the slitextends walsewise of the fabric to separate the upper ends of the frontand rear panels 21 and 22 and opposite ends of the slit also extend intothe upper portions of the extensions 12 and 13. The waist opening maythen be finished to prevent raveling by sewing a stretchable band 31 orthe like to the edges (FIGURE 2). The lower ends of the legs 10 and 11may be finished by turning the same upon themselves and sewing along theedges to form turned hems. The garment may also be provided withsuitable garter support straps 34 which are sewed to the hems at thelower ends of the legs 10 and 11.

The finished garment (FIGURE 2) thus is completely devoid of any seamswith the body gusset 20 being joined to the leg extensions 12 and 13 andlegs 10 and 11 and extending downwardly in the central portion of thefront of the garment, between the legs and 11 and upwardly in thecentral portion of the rear of the garment. During the knitting of thegarment blank, the leg extensions 12 and 13 and the body gusset arefashioned by narrowing and widening the fabric to form suture or gorelines, in a manner to be presently described.

Referring to FIGURE 4, it will be noted that when the blank is removedfrom the knitting machine, it defiines a generally U-shaped tube havinga crotch area 35 which extends between the legs 10 and 11 and forms thelower portion of the body gusset 20. The upper portion of the generallyU-shaped tube defines a waist area indicated at 36 (FIGURE 1) whichextends across the medial portion of the body gusset 20 and into theupper ends of the extensions 12 and 13.

As has been pointed out, the wales of the body gusset 20 run insubstantially perpendicular relationship to the wales in the legs 10, 11and extensions 12, 13, and by varying the length of stitches utilized inknitting different portions of the blank, the amount of stretchabilityof the different portions of the blank and the shape of the blank may bechanged. Also, the body gusset 20 may be knit of a dilferent yarn thanthat used to knit the legs 10, 11 and extensions 12, 13 so that thefabric of the body gusset 20 may have different characteristics than thefabric of the legs 10, 11 and extensions 12, 13. The panty type garmentof the present invention will be described as being knit on a circularknitting machine which is capable of rotary and reciprocatory knittingalthough it is to be understood that the garment may also be knit onother types of machines capable of knitting a tubular fabric such as theLamb type knitting machine in which a pair of angularly disposed needlebeds are utilized.

When a circular knitting machine is used to knit the garment blanksshown in FIGURES 1, 3 and 4, the needle cylinder will be supplied withthe proper number of needles necessary to produce the desired diameterof scamless tubu'lar fabric in the leg. Knitting of the blank may bestarted at the bottom of either of the legs 10 or 11 and will bedescribed starting at the lower edge of the leg 10. Through conventionalpattern control means, the needle cylinder is rotated continuously inone direction with all of the needles in active or knitting position sothat when the desired type of yarn is fed to the needles, the tubularseamless leg 10 is formed.

Rotary knitting is continued until the leg 10 is the desired length andin the present instance, rotary knitting continues until the dash-dotline 14 is reached. At this point, the machine switches intoreciprocatory knitting and a group of the needles in the cylinder aremoved to idle position with the remainder of the needles remaining inactive position to start to knit the leg extension 12. The group ofneedles which are idled are positioned in the crotch area 35 of thegarment and these needles will not again be active until the body gusset20 is knit. During the knitting of the extension 12, partial courses areformed with each reciprocation of the needle cylinder and needles aresuccessively removed from action during selected succeeding partialcourses while retaining their stitch loop to produce a generallynarrowed fabric.

It is preferred that the fabric of the extension 12 be narrowed verygradually by removing one needle from action during the knitting of eachpair of succeeding partial courses, however, the fabric may be narrowedat a faster rate by removing one needle from action during the knittingof each partial course. The, fabric of the extension 12 is graduallynarrowed until only a relatively small predetermined number of needlesremain active at the upper extremity of the tapered extension 12.

During the knitting of the first reciprocatory course of the body gusset20, a group of needles adjacent each side of the previously activeneedles is brought back into action so that the first reciprocatorypartial course of the body gusset 2.0 is knit on a much greater numberof needles than the last partial course of the extension 12.

The groups of needles activated form the vertical portions of the frontand rear gore or suture lines 24 and 26 (FIGURES l and 4). Thus, thefirst reciprocatory partial course of the body gusset 20 extends acrossthe top of the blank, down the front and rear of the garment blank andis connected to the inner edges of the upper portion of the extension12, along the vertical portions of the respective gore lines 24 and 26.Following the knitting of the first partial courses, the followingpartial courses of the body gusset 20 are gradually widened and oppositeends of these partial courses are connected to the fabric of theextension 12 along the inclined portions of the front and rear suturelines 24 and 26.

After a predetermined number of partial courses are knit, at thedash-dot line 37, all of the remaining inactive needles in the cylinderare again activated and the machine switches into rotary knitting toagain produce tubular seamless fabric and knit the centralrnost portionof the body gusset 20. When all of the needles in the cylinder are againmoved to active position, the group of needles which had been holdingtheir stitch loops since the completion of the first seamless leg 11 areagain activated to thereby join the leg 10 to one side of the bodygusset 20 in the crotch area 35 of the blank. After the desired numberof circular courses are knit in the body gusset 20, at the dash-dot line38, a group of needles in the crotch area 35 are deactivated and themachine again switches into reciprocatory knitting.

Partial courses are again knit with each reciprocation of the needlecylinder as needles are successively removed from action during selectedsucceeding partial courses while retaining their stitch loops to producea generally narrowed fabric in the area between the dashdot line 38 andthe vertical portions of the gore lines 25, 27. As the fabric isgradually narrowed, the inclined portions of the gore lines 25, 27 areproduced until a predetermined number of partial courses are kni-t. Thenarrowing operation is continued until the last partial course of thebody gusset 20 is formed and then a group of needles at each end of theactive needles is deactivated before knitting the first partial courseat the upper portion of the extension 13. The first partial course ofthe extension 13 is reciprocatorily knit on a small group of needles toform a short partial course extending over the top of the blank andterminating at opposite ends at the upper ends of the front and reargore lines 25 and 27. As reciprocatory knitting of the extension 13continues, additional needles are brought into action in succeedingpartial courses to thereby gradually widen the fabric down to thedash-dot line 15.

When knitting of the lower portion of the leg extension 13 is completed,at the dash-dot line 15, all of the inactive needles in the cylinder areagain activated and the machine switches into rotary knitting to againproduce tubular seamless fabric and knit the tubular seamless leg 11.When all of the needles in the cylinder are again moved to activeposition, the group of needles which had been holding their stitch loopssince the completion of the complete courses in the body gusset 20 areagain activated to thereby join the first course of the leg 11 to thelast of the complete courses in the body gusset 20 at the crotch area 35of the blank. After knitting of the blank is completed, the upper end isslit along the dash-dot line 30 and the garment may be finished in themanner heretofore described.

It will be noted in FIGURES 2 and 4 that after the upper portion of theblank is slit along the dash-dot line 30 the fashioned body gusset 20 isU-shaped and extends from the front of the waist opening downwardlybetween the legs 10, 11 and then upwardly to the rear of the waistopening. Also, opposed ends of the U-shaped body gusset 20 are widerthan the medial portion thereof.

It will be apparent that by changing the manner in which the body gussetand/ or the leg extensions are widened and narrowed, the shape and sizeof the panty blank may be changed. For example, by changing thefashioning of the body gusset and the leg extension, the difference inwidth of the waist area, as compared to the width of the hip area of thegarment, may be changed and also the overall width of the garment may bechanged by varying the number of complete seamless courses knit in thebody gusset 20.

It is to be understood that the seamless knit garment disclosed in thepresent application may be knit of any desired type of yarns to achievethe desired results in the garment. For example, the complete garmentmay be knit of either natural or synthetic, inelastic or non-stretchableyarn if stretchability of the garment is not desired. The completegarment maybe knit of stretchable or elastic yarn if stretchability ofthe garment and support of the body of the wearer is desired. Variousportions of the garment may be knit of stretchable yarn while otherportions may be knit of non-stretchable yarn, and some portions of thegarment may be knit by combining stretchable and non-stretchable yarns.

Although a particular panty type garment blank has been illustrated anddescribed, it is to be understood that different shapes of garmentblanks may be made by chang ing the fashioning of the fabric of the legextensions and/ or the body gusset without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

In the drawings and specifications there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaims.

We claim:

1. A seamless knit panty or the like comprising a pair of seamlesstubular legs of substantially equal lengths, fashioned extensions knitintegral with and extending upwardly from each of said tubular legs, anda fashioned body gusset knit integral with and interconnecting saidseamless tubular legs and said fashioned extensions, said fashioned bodygusset having a central portion extending between said seamless tubularlegs and defining a crotch area.

2. A seamless knit panty or the like comprising a pair of seamlesstubular legs of substantially equal lengths, fashioned extensions knitintegral with and extending upwardly from each of said tubular legs, andfashioned front and rear gusset panels knit integral with the fashionedextensions of each leg, said fashioned front and rear gusset panelsbeing integrally knit and extending between and interconnecting saidseamless tubularplegs and said fashioned extensions.

3. A seamless knit lower body garment comprising a pair of seamlesstubular legs of substantially equal lengths, fashioned extensions knitintegral with and extending upwardly from each of said tubular legs, anda fashioned body gusset panel knit integral with and extending betweensaid seamless tubular legs and said fashioned extensions, said fashionedbody gusset being U-shaped and connecting said seamless tubular legs andsaid fashioned extensions together in spaced apart relationship.

4. A garment according to claim 3 in which opposed end portions of saidU-shaped body gusset are wider than the medial portion thereof.

5. A seamless blank for forming a knit panty or the like comprising asubstantially U-shaped seamless knit tube including tubular leg portionsof substantially equal lengths defining the openings of the U-shapedtube, a fashioned extension knit integral with each leg portion andconnected thereto remote from the openings defined by the leg portions,each of said extensions having an inner edge, and a fashioned bodygusset knit integral with and extending between and connecting said legextensions and said tubular leg portions to define the central portionof the U-shaped tube.

6. A seamless blank for forming a knit panty or the like comprising asubstantially U-shaped seamless knit tube including tubular leg portionsof substantially equal lengths defining the openings of the U-shapedtube, a fashioned extension knit integral with each leg portion andconnected thereto remote from the openings defined by the leg portions,each of said extensions having an inner edge, and a fashioned bodygusset knit integral with said leg extensions and said tubular legportions, said fashioned body gusset connecting said leg extensions andsaid tubular leg portions together in spaced apart relationship todefine the central portion of the U-shaped tube.

7. A seamless blank for forming a knit panty or the like comprising asubstantially U-shaped seamless knit tube including tubular leg portionsof substantially equal lengths defining the openings of the U-shapedtube, said tubular leg portions having a plurality of complete courses,a fashioned extension knit integral with each leg portion and connectedthereto remote from the openings defined by the leg portions, saidfashioned extensions having a plurality of partial courses, and afashioned body gusset knit integral with and connecting said legextensions and said tubular leg portions to define the central portionof the U-shaped tube, said fashioned body gusset having a plurality ofpartial courses and a plurality of complete courses.

8. A method of making seamless panties or the like comprising the stepsof knitting a plurality of complete courses to form a first tubular leg,knitting a plurality of partial courses to form a first leg extensionknit integral with the first leg while fashioning to reduce the width ofthe partial courses of said extension, knitting a fashioned body gussetintegral with the first leg and the first leg extension while fashioningto increase the width of the partial courses of the first portion of thebody gusset, knitting a plurality of complete courses to form a centralportion of the body gusset, then knitting a plurality of partial courseswhile fashioning to decrease the width of the partial courses to form athird portion of the body gusset, knit-ting a plurality of partialcourses to form a second leg extension knit integral with the bodygusset while fashioning to increase the width of the partial courses ofthe second leg extension, knitting a plurality of complete courses toform a second tubular leg integral with the second leg extension andjoined to the body gusset, the first and second tubular legs being ofsubstantially equal lengths, and then slitting the fabric transverselyof the body gusset to form a waist opening.

9. A method of making seamless panty blanks or the like comprising thesteps of knitting a first tubular leg while forming complete courses,knitting a plurality of partial courses to form a first leg extensionknit integral with the first leg while fashioning to reduce the width ofthe partial courses of said extension, knitting a plurality of partialcourses to form the first portion of a fashioned body gusset knitintegral with a portion of the first leg extension while fashioning toincrease the width of the partial courses of the first portion of thebody gusset, knitting a plurality of complete courses integral with thepartial courses of the first portion of the body gusset and integralwith the first tubular leg to form the central portion of the bodygusset, knitting a plurality of partial courses to form the thirdportion of the body gusset knit integral with the second portion of thebody gusset while fashioning to decrease the width of the partialcourses of the third portion of the body gusset, knitting a plurality ofpartial courses to form a second leg extension knit integral with thebody gusset while fashioning to increase the width of the partialcourses of the second leg extension, and then knitting a plurality ofcomplete courses to form a second tubular leg integral with the secondleg extension and joined to the body gusset, the first and secondtubular legs being of substantially equal lengths.

10. A method of making seamless panties or the like comprising the stepsof knitting a first tubular leg while forming complete courses, knittinga plurality of partial courses to form a first leg extension knitintegral with the first leg while fashioning to reduce the width of thepartial courses of said extension, knitting a plurality of partialcourses to form the first portion of a fashioned body gusset knitintegral with a portion of the first leg extension while fashioning toincrease the width of the partial courses of the first portion of thebody gusset, knitting a plurality of complete courses integral with thepartial courses of the first portion of the body gusset and integralwith the first tubular leg to form the central portion of the bodygusset, knitting a plurality of partial courses to form the thirdportion of the body gusset knit integral with the second portion of thebody gusset while fashioning to decrease the width of the partialcourses of the third portion of the body gusset, knitting a plurality ofpartial courses -to form a second leg extension knit integral with thebody gusset while fashioning to increase the-width of the partialcourses of the second leg extension, and then knitting a plurality ofcomplete courses to form a second tubular leg integral with the secondleg extension and joined to the body gusset the first and second tubularlegs being of substantially equal lengths, and then slitting the fabrictransversely of the body gusset to form a waist opening.

11. A method of making seamless panty blanks or the like on acircularknitting machine having a predeter mined number of circularly arrangedneedles comprising the steps of knitting a plurality of complete courseson all of the needles to form a first tubular leg, knitting a 8plurality of partial courses on only a portion of the needles whiledecreasing the number of needles knitting in the partial courses to forma first leg extension knit integral with the first leg, knitting aplurality of partial courses on only a portion of the needles whileincreasing the number of needles knitting in the partial courses to formthe first portion of a fashioned body gusset, knitting a plurality ofcomplete courses on all of the needles to form the central portion ofthe body gusset, knitting a plurality of partial courses on only aportion of the needles while decreasing the number of needles knittingin the partial courses to form the third portion of the body gusset,knitting a plurality of partial courses on only a portion of the needleswhile increasing the number of needles knitting in the partial coursesto form a second leg extension knit integral with the body gusset, andthen knitting a plurality of complete courses on all of the needles toform a second tubular leg knit integral with the second leg extensionand joined to the central portion of the body gusset, the first andsecond tubular legs being of substantially equal lengths.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS rWilliams et a1. Jan. 7, 1896

1. A SEAMLESS KNIT PANTY OR THE LIKE COMPRISING A PAIR OF SEAMLESSTUBULAR LEGS OF SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL LENGTHS, FASHIONED EXTENSIONS KNITINTEGRAL WITH AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM EACH OF SAID TUBULAR LEGS, ANDA FASHIONED BODY GUSSET KNIT INTEGRAL WITH AND INTERCONNECTING SAIDSEAMLESS TUBULAR LEGS AND SAID FASHIONED EXTENSIONS, SAID FASHIONED BODYGUSSET HAVING A CENTRAL PORTION EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SEAMLESS TUBULARLEGS AND DEFINING A CROTCH AREA.